


come together right now, over memes.

by gentlebenn



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-12
Updated: 2014-08-12
Packaged: 2018-02-12 22:33:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2126958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gentlebenn/pseuds/gentlebenn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jamie and Tyler had kind of always clicked, but when it came to making each other laugh they always knew how. When Jamie realized what he’d gotten himself into, he was in way too deep. And fuck, did it hit him like a ton of bricks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	come together right now, over memes.

"Tyler seriously look at your phone, you're gonna die." Jamie kicked him under the table until he did what he was told.

As expected, he cracked a smile shook his head and looked back to Jamie. "Nice. So nice." he laughed and put his phone back down and Jamie smiled to himself.

Each time he made Tyler laugh or even just crack a smile, he took it as a small victory. What was he winning? He wasn't quite sure. They parted ways and Jamie entered his apartment and collapsed on the couch.

The rest of their dinner was pretty silent. Which was odd, but not uncomfortable. Since the beginning of the season things between the two had become a lot more settled and comfortable. They worked together, in whichever way you could imagine.

Jamie must have dozed off because he was ever so rudely awoken by his phone going off. Of course Tyler had his own ringtone, text tone too. The love of memes started off as a casual joke, and somehow spiraled into using Rick Astley for their notifications from each other. 

 _"CHECK THIS OUT!! HILARIOUS BRO!"_ Tyler had sent him a screen shot of "if there's only steers and queers in texas, and i'm not a cow, who's driving the car?" Jamie had grown used to Tyler joking about the things in his past and a lot of the time he did find it funny but this time he was a little perplexed.

 _"Lol good one dude! I'm gonna conk out, see you tomorrow"_ he replied and spread out on the couch, too lazy to get up and go to his room.

He wasn't used to having such a strong connection on and off ice. Was this normal? Was this how it was for Kane and Toews? Malkin and Crosby? His mind raced, not enough to keep him up, but enough to infiltrate his dreams. 

He never realized how much he thought about Tyler, how much he talked about Tyler and how much of his life was just that, Tyler.  _TYLER TYLER TYLER,_ all the time. 

He was once again rudely awoken by Tyler, this time sitting on his lap. This wasn't anything abnormal for them but something about all of Jamie's thoughts and recent realizations made him a bit uneasy. Like something was weighing on his chest and even he wasn't quite sure what, or why. 

"Jamie! I had an idea and it was way too good to text." Tyler said as Jamie came to; shifting onto his forearms and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "What was so earth shattering it couldn't wait until practice?" Jamie said.

All of the hurt was evident on Tyler's face, but was washed away as quickly as it came when Jamie cracked that dimply half smile, showing he wasn't actually mad at Tyler. As if that could EVER happen.

"We should get matching tattoos! Or like, similar tattoos?" Tyler smiled widely, obviously having thought this out to an extreme degree. "Yeah?" Jamie replied, lifting a bit further off the couch as Jordie emerged from his cave and padded into the kitchen.

"Well, like of what?" Jamie urged him on, intrigued by the way the strange little mind of Tyler Seguin worked sometimes. "Get this....MEMES." Tyler slapped Jamie's thigh in an all out fit of happy laughter and in absolute agreeance with himself. 

Jamie couldn't really find any way to argue with that. It was basically the start of their friendship; their love of memes. Jordie peered into the living room where Tyler remained seated on Jamie's lower half as he looked up at him from an extremely compromising position. 

"Yeah. Yeah, okay. Let's do it!" Jamie smiled fondly at the slightly smaller man perched on his hips. Tyler grinned back all the same, and there it was again. There was that weight on his chest, somehow outweighing the actual person on his body. It was like soft, warm blows to the sternum and Jamie couldn't seem to shake them. 

"You're too heavy, move." Jamie pushed Tyler backward onto the couch, slipping out from under his weight and almost waddling to his room. He was changing when Jordie entered, shutting the door behind him.

"What was that all about?" He questioned Jamie.

"What? Ty showing up? Or the tattoo thing?" Jamie replied, seemingly confused. Not that he wasn't confused, by everything.

"Tattoo thing. Matching tattoos? That's uh.. A little much huh?" Jordie prodded gently.

"Well, we have technically matching tattoo's" Jamie said, very matter-of-factly.

"We're brothers, J. It's different. Especially if you're going to get meme tattoo's." Jordie responded in a standoffish tone. 

"He has a matching tattoo with Marchand. Memes are fucking funny, Jordie. We enjoy them. So what?" Jamie said, now obviously annoyed.

"Jamie. You're what, almost 25 years old? Meme tattoo? Honestly. The tattoo he and Marchand have isn't just him and Marchand. Lucic and a few others share it too. Once again, theres a difference. Matching tattoo's out of nowhere, of something so fucking random isn't just buddies, J." Jordie stated, walking out of Jamie's room and down the hall to his own.

Jamie stood there for a moment, a little confused. What was Jordie trying to get at? That there was something more? Jamie wasn't exactly..straight but he wasn't gonna say he's outright gay, because that wouldn't be true either.

Jamie appreciates hot people, and gender really never rained on his parade. Sure he'd been around the block a few times, but Tyler? Tyler Seguin? There was no way. 

Jamie was so set on believing Tyler was straight as a pin he couldn't even begin to understand where Jordie had been coming from. Yet he seemed to look past the fact that Tyler didn't just seem straight, he acted aggressively straight, as if trying to prove something.

Practice came and went and Jamie couldn't shake the thoughts running through his head. He sat in his stall, shirtless with his pants and skates still on. He was staring at his hands, racking his brain for reasons and examples of why Jordie thought there might be something more with Tyler.

He couldn't seem to find any, mostly because they all involved things that seemed completely normal to him at this point due to the complete lack of boundaries in the friendship from the get go.

He felt a hand clap down on his shoulder and a familiar voice brought him back to earth. "You okay bud?" Tyler asked, looking Jamie in the eye, face soaked with sincere concern for his best friend, and Captain.

Jamie was flushed. Ears hot and red, face splotchy and pink and red spots scattered across his chest and shoulders. He licked his lips and blinked a few times before responding.

"Yeah. Yeah, no. I'm good." He replied before leaning over to untie his skates and finish stripping his sweat soaked equipment.

He made his way to the showers, doing his best in avoiding the increasingly piercing gaze from Jordie, who was the only one other than Tyler that seemed to be paying any attention to him. 

Once he was back home, he shut himself into his room with a huge bottle of water and his laptop. He wanted to distract himself, try to force Tyler out of his head.

The more he tried, the harder it became. Memes were no longer something to rifle through to find something funny when he's bored, they were a form of communication between he and the very person he was trying to isolate from his thoughts.

He groaned while shutting his laptop and grabbing his phone from his bedside table.

Surprise, surprise. Tyler had texted him. Actually, had texted him 3 times. 

 _"Rev up them fryers!"_ Tyler's way of saying "get ready for me"

_"You better have cheese."_

_"What kind of Gatorade do you want? Or do you want some ginger ale? Going to the store, let me know."_

Jamie had never minded Tyler inviting himself over. It was just what they did. 

But ever since that first strange tugging from within his chest the night before, something was off. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't seem to decipher why. 

After a few minutes of fiddling with his lock button he finally opened the messages and replied.

_"Whatever you grab is fine. You know I'm down with anything."_

And he meant just that. Whether Tyler would know that or not. Jamie was just starting to realize it himself. 

Soon enough, Tyler was banging on the door. Kid was absolutely ridiculous, Jamie had made him a key within the first 6 weeks of him living in Dallas, he used it once. 

"I got Ginger ale, blue gatorade,  _the good one_ , red gatorade and some propels? And I got cheese in case you didn't have any." He turned from his position putting the drinks and cheese in the fridge, smiling warmly at Jamie.

Shit. 

"Why did you want cheese so bad, Seguin?" Jamie asked, knowing just what buttons to push.

"You were grumbling about a grilled cheese before you woke up this morning. Figured I'd make you one and we could watch Rock of Ages." Tyler grinned from ear to ear, what small amount of upper lip he had, absolutely disappearing. 

"Uh, well I guess the heart wants what the heart wants." Jamie laughed, tossing the cheese from the counter towards Tyler.

"Guess it takes someone pretty damn cool to uh, help you realize how much you want uh, a grilled cheese." Tyler cleared his throat and muttered something under his breath before shutting the fridge door and going towards the living room to kick his shoes off.

"What was that?" Jamie asked.

"I uh, said I guess it takes someone pretty  _damn_ cool to help you realize how much you want a grilled cheese." Tyler reiterated, this time more confident in his words. 

"yeah I got that the first time, what did you mumble?" Jamie said, his Captain voice out in full force.

"Nothing. Its nothing. Come sit down I'm putting Rock of Ages on. Tom Cruise is a midget so its even better in widescreen format." Tyler giggled.

Jamie shrugged off his curiosity and collapsed on the couch with Tyler. 

Within 20 minutes Tyler was so close to Jamie, he felt nearly paralyzed. Their thighs were mashed together and Tyler was leaned slightly against Jamie's side. 

Tyler stretched out a bit before leaning back, closer this time. Jamie stiffened and it was obvious to Tyler, who was just about done with Jamie being a fucking weirdo.

"What the hell is up with you?" Tyler questioned, hand half on Jamie's knee, which was painfully distracting to him, apparently.

"Nothing! I'm just tired and this movie sucks." Jamie shrugged, and he was well aware Tyler could see straight through that obvious crock of shit.

"One, you fucking LOVE this movie. Bad acting and all. It has Jamie Benn written ALL OVER IT. Two, you're a liar. And an awful one at that. Tell me." Tyler said, voice softening on the last two words spoken.

Jamie sighed, and just shook his head. "It's nothing. Promise." he stated. 

Tyler still didn't believe him but he knew better than to poke and prod when asked not to. He leaned back into Jamie, who finally lifted his arm to allow the smaller of the two to nestle into his side.

This was nothing out of the ordinary. They're both cuddlers. They're best friends, what's the harm? 

Jamie's unrequited school girl crush, apparently. 

Tyler fell asleep laid against Jamie's side about halfway through the movie and Jamie being the big teddy bear he tries so hard to deny he is, didn't have the heart to move. 

Tyler looked so peaceful when he slept. He looked so much different than he did when he was awake. He looked calm, comfortable. He looked happy, and that did things to Jamie's heart that he didn't even think were possible.

He wished he could watch Tyler sleep forever. To see him this vulnerable and content was like a drug to Jamie. One hit and he was fucking hooked. There was no going back.

Jamie watched. He watched Tyler's nose scrunch up, his lips twitch, curve up and his eyes dart around behind his eye lids. He was so intrigued. 

Jordie burst through the door, not intentionally loud though. The door handle sometimes stuck, and it took a good shove to get it open. It wasn't loud enough to wake Tyler completely, but he did definitely stir a bit. 

He moved slightly, slinging his arm across Jamie and moving his head a bit closer to the chub of his stomach. 

Jordie looked in and saw Jamie looking down adoringly at Tyler asleep, sprawled across him. He'd muted the movie and turned off the light already. 

Jordie rolled his eyes and whispered "you're so gone" at Jamie before retreating to his room.

Jordie was right. He was so far past gone on Tyler Paul Seguin it was sickening. 

Jamie didn't realize how long he'd spent watching Tyler sleep on him until he looked over to see the cable box read 12:03. Tyler had been there since 7:30 and was out cold by 8:45. 

Jamie's eyes widened at the sheer amount of time he spent staring at his centerman asleep. Was that weird? Would Tyler be creeped out?

He began to move Tyler from his chest, but Tyler only clung harder at the attempts.

"Tyler, I need to go to bed. Get off" Jamie whispered, attempting again to move him. 

"You're comfy. no." Tyler groggily protested. 

"I'm going to my room. You can come, just let me up" Jamie said, forcing Tyler off of him and walking off towards his room.

He settled in bed before he felt the mattress shift and the warmth of the smaller man in close quarters. His heart fluttered at the sensation. 

He was so, so fucked.

Soon enough he was asleep. Little did he realize that this would become a part of their regular routine. 

He also never got his grilled cheese, and he was beginning to think Tyler's appearance was never about a grilled cheese whatsoever.

More and more often Jaime began waking up with Tylers nose pressed deep into his chest and his arm slung over Jamie's hip. 

He thought he could handle it, until the morning wood decided to make a recurring guest appearance. There was no real reason he couldn't lie about it, but he was awful at lying and Tyler could always tell.

One night, after a particularly shitty game Jamie didn't even bother with food or water once he walked in the door. He went straight to his room and collapsed into his bed.

He laid there alone for a while before standing up and stripping into his boxers. He looked at his phone, hoping Tyler had sent some stupid meme to try and cheer him up like he always did. 

Without fail, he had. Momentarily after Jamie replying, asking Tyler to come over, he popped his head through Jamie's door.

"I've been here a little while, can I come in?" He asked with a small smile.

Jamie just waved him over and turned slightly towards him. Tyler walked in wearing a pair of Jamie's basketball shorts and a slightly too tight Tshirt, and Jamie couldn't help but notice a plate in his hands.

Tyler kicked off his shoes and climbed up into Jamie's bed, scooting closer to him as he sat up in his place. Tyler handed him the plate and smiled weakly at his best friend.

"Figured I'd finally take another crack at that whole uh, grilled cheese thing again." Jamie shook his head and smiled widely up at Tyler, who demands immediate gratification for his actions.

Within seconds, Jamie scarfed down the sandwich and looked to Tyler expectantly.

"What is it Benny?" Tyler asked, confusion clearly written across his face.

"I...I just need to get this out. A few weeks ago, when you first mentioned the grilled cheese thing... what did you mean by it? Was there uh, something more? Maybe?"

The blood drained from Tyler's face, leaving him stark white. Which understandably worried the hell out of Jamie. 

"Ty.. I.. sorry. Forget I said anything. Jordie just said something and I guess I misread it." Jamie said, defeated.

Tyler looked back at him, wide eyed and now bright pink. "What did Jordie say?" Tyler asked, looking slightly guilty.

"He just insinuated that there was like...something more with us. I dunno." 

Tyler went slackjawed, and Jamie just laughed.

"Well. Uh, I don't know about you but uh, Jordie wasn't exactly...wrong." Tyler said, scooting a bit away from Jamie, as if he thought Jamie was going to kick him out. 

"I just, you were so nice to me and we just got along so well. I kind of can't help myself sometimes and I'm sorry if it-"

Jamie cut him off. He grabbed his face and smashed their lips together in the least graceful way possible. He wasn't really going for that though, he was just trying to shut Tyler up, while also giving Tyler the reassurance he wasn't sure who needed more. 

Tyler moved closer to Jamie, and lower, allowing a better angle for the seemingly never ending kiss. 

It lasted a while, a mess of limbs, tongues and wet lips. Ranging from lips to necks to shoulders, they kissed and licked and nipped at each other like a pair of excited puppies. 

Someone cleared their throat, Jordie. Of course. "Told you it was NOT just buddies, J." He said, smug as ever. "Learn to close the door, you're still my baby brother." He laughed. 

Jamie went bright pink, and Tyler kissed his nose. 

"It isn't just buddies, J...but..what is it?" He asked.

"That's uh..that's a good question Tyler." Jamie replied, licking his lips and resting his chin in the center of Tyler's rapidly rising and falling chest. 

It was late and Jamie was drained. From both the loss, and the physicality that came with making out with the energizer bunny that is Tyler Seguin. 

"Jam, c'mere" Tyler attempted to pull Jamie further up his body, before Jamie gave in and scooted up resting his temple against Tyler's clavicle.

"We can talk about it tomorrow or something. I know you're exhausted"

"Okay."

"Get some sleep, okay?" Tyler said, shifting as if he was leaving.

"Please stay" Jamie half whispered, trying his damnedest to hide the desperation in his voice.

Tyler said nothing while trying to find a more comfortable position to lay in. Finally, with Jamie nearly half on top of him, half underneath him he settled down.

"I'll make eggs in the morning." Jamie said while nuzzling his face into the crook of Tyler's neck, entangling their legs.

Tyler ran a hand lightly up and down his spine a few times before letting it find a resting position on the back of Jamie's neck, fingers twirling the loose strands of soft black hair settled there.

Tyler continued to twist the hair between his fingers as Jamie's weight slipped to dead on top of him, a warm, solid presence Tyler missed so much more than he had realized.  

Before he knew it, he was awake and alone in Jamie's bed. He didn't remember falling asleep, much less being under the covers. 

Jamie must have done that. He was always thinking of the simplest things that Tyler seemed to almost consistently overlook. Even if it was just pulling a blanket over him. 

He stretched before getting up and making his way to where Jamie was, the kitchen. 

He approached Jamie who was standing at the stove and debated wrapping his arms around Jamie's waist, ultimately just kind of getting caught half way through the act of doing so as Jamie turned around nearly dropping the carton of eggs.

"I uh I didn't know if I should? Like is that cool? We still haven't rea-" 

Jamie cut him off once again, kissing him lightly.

"Yeah. It's okay. I mean, we're only at home right?" He smiled, putting the eggs back into the fridge.

Tyler cocked his head to the side, letting the "we're only at home" remark set in. He decided to just make note of that, and ask when they were actually talking about it.

"Can I help?" He asked, reaching out and gripping lightly to Jamie's barely there love handles sticking out of the waistband of his slightly too small sweatpants. 

"You can sit down and look cute, that'd help." Jamie joked, pushing Tyler lightly back against the counter. He jumped up and did what Jamie said, just sat. 

He watched as Jamie made eggs, toast and sausages. He was wildly interested in watching Jamie do everything. Even the most mundane things. If it was Jamie doing it, he _wanted_ to see it. 

He got caught up in Jamie. He was always caught up in Jamie. The way he shied away from praise, the way he radiated happiness all the time. He couldn't help but be wrapped around Jamie's finger, he was absolutely intoxicating.

Tyler watched as Jamie stretched his arm upward to grab plates. It's not like he had to reach very far, but the slightest movements flexed the muscles in his back and Tyler swore he could watch him move for days. 

Jamie turned to see Tyler staring at him. He was so focused on looking at Jamie, studying everything about his appearance, his mannerisms and all Jamie did. 

Needless to say, the undivided attention caused Jamie to turn 15 different shades of pink. Tyler could never get over how easy it was to get Jamie to blush, and he never wanted to stop making him do that.

"What are you looking at you loser" Jamie laughed, throwing a dish towel in Tyler's direction. This time, it was Tyler's turn to be bashful. He wasn't entirely sure how to respond to that.

What was appropriate? They still hadn't talked about what was going on. What could he say? What could he DO? 

"You're just, you're nice to look at." Tyler said in a slightly questioning tone. 

"Shut up." Jamie laughed, blushing harder than Tyler had ever seen, "You're one to talk, stud." Jamie added, looking almost horrified at his choice of words as soon as they left his mouth.

Tyler was not lacking in the self-esteem department, that's for sure, but something about Jamie thinking he was good looking made him feel like he was in another dimension. 

They ate, occasionally sharing new meme's and laughing at how meme's brought them together. 

Tyler grabbed their plates as they finished and started to wash them. 

"Ty, there's a dishwasher. You don't have to wash them by hand." Jamie said, pressing himself against Tyler's back.

He laid his hands over Tyler's hips and rested his head against the crown of Tyler's, pressing light kisses into the mess of hair on his head. 

Jamie moved his hands to wrap his arms around Tyler, kissing where the back of his neck met his shoulder, just as Jordie walked by.

"Definitely NOT just Buddies." he unlocked the door and was gone. 

"Right. Okay, c'mon. Lets talk." he urged Tyler to leave the dishes alone and made his way to the couch. Tyler reluctantly put the plate down and followed him, worried that this talk wasn't going to go where he wanted it to. 

“Tyler, you don’t have to sit so far away. I mean, unless you want to.” Jamie said, immediately rushing his words out like he does when he gets nervous.

Tyler turned, extending his legs across Jamie’s lap. Jamie took this as a good thing, and thank god he did because that is exactly what Tyler was going for.

Of course he’d love to sit next to and or on top of Jamie as much as possible but this was too important to be distracted, he needed to know exactly what Jamie was thinking and feeling.

Jamie rested his hands on Tyler’s legs and took a deep breath. The last time Tyler had seen him look so nervous was the day that he’d been named Captain and had to do a press conference essentially revolving around himself.

Jamie wasn’t comfortable talking about himself. He was awful at accepting compliments/praise, he just kind of blushed and dismissed it. It wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate it, he just didn’t know how to respond to it. He was way too modest, and that was one of the things that Tyler was so attracted to.

When coming from Boston with a best bud like Marchand, it was refreshing to find someone that wasn’t exactly shy, but was wildly humble.

“I like you, Tyler. More than I think is probably safe to admit. I want you, and if that isn’t evident from last night I’d like to know how you’d want me to show you. That is, if you do want me to.” Jamie finally said.

“I do. I want you to. You don’t have to prove anything to me though, bug.”

Jamie looked up at the sound of Tyler’s pet name. It came straight from Jamie’s tendency to have giant bush baby eyes that bug out of his head at any sort of surprise, shock or interest.

“Been a while since you’ve called me that, huh?” Jamie lightly petted Tyler’s leg and bit his lower lip.

“I want to see where this goes. I want to, be with you. Like a lot. I just don’t know if we should be public about it or anything just yet.” He said reluctantly.

There was music on, just barely loud enough to hear. 

 _Yours is the first face that I saw, I think I was blind before I met you._  
Now I don't know where I am, I don't know where I've been but I know where I want to go  
  
And so I thought I'd let you know, that these things take forever  
I especially am slow, but I realize that I need you and I wondered if I could come home.

“I guess so yeah. I don’t think anyone would have an issue, but I think you’re right. If we’re together, maybe we should see where this goes before we start telling people that we are. Right?” Tyler sort of half agreed half asked.

“It’s not that I wouldn’t want people to know we’re together, because hell, I’d love to flaunt that I have the strangest yet somehow cutest kid out of Brampton all to myself. But I just don’t know if right now, mid-season is the best time to bring the “hey! I’m Jamie Benn, new captain of the Dallas Stars and boyfriend of my center!” card out.” He took in a breath.

Tyler giggled lightly, smiling like an idiot.

“What?” Jamie asked looking absolutely mortified.

“You called me your boyfriend.”

“Well, uh, that’s what you want right? To be my boyfriend?” Jamie was nervous again.

“That is exactly what I want. You know, you’re kind of a grade a hunk, Jam.”

He blushed again, smiling from ear to ear.

“I’d kill to see that smile, like all the time.” Tyler said, eyes going wide when he realized what he’d so easily let slip 45 seconds into becoming Jamie’s boyfriend.

“Yeah?” Jamie questioned, squeezing Tyler’s ankle and leaning back against the couch.

Tyler dropped his legs from Jamie’s lap and crawled towards him, this time dropping ass first into his lap.

“What are you doing Ty?” Jamie asked, hand coming up to rest on Tyler’s stomach.

“Being your boyfriend.” He flashed his famous shit eating, upper lipless grin and Jamie just kissed him.

He kissed him again. And again, then 3 more times. Then twice and 6 times after that. He began to lose count, and before he knew it he had Tyler pinned beneath him on the couch, any trace of clothing that wasn’t underwear was shed, thrown throughout the living room.

With any luck, he thought, the underwear wouldn’t last much longer either.

Nipping and pawing at each other, Jamie took the opportunity to push at Tyler’s waistband, eventually getting his hand where they both wanted it, they heard the door open.

Jamie quickly retracted his hand, and whipped his head around to see the horrified expression on Jordie’s face.

“Jesus CHRIST I don’t have an issue with this but honestly keep it behind closed doors. You are still my brother.”

He shook his head and walked to his room. Jamie’s face burned and Tyler was holding a throw pillow over his crotch.

“Too late to uh, bring it behind closed doors?” He asked. Jamie looked to him and chuckled.

“Maybe we should go back to your place after tomorrows practice, yeah?”

“Sounds like a plan.” Tyler grinned, and Jamie threw him his pants.

Jordie came back out, stopping before he had a clear view of the living room.

“All dicks are concealed, correct?” He asked, completely serious.

“Only dick out here, is you.” Jamie playfully shoved him as he passed him in the doorway.

They went through the same routine, practice, fuck, eat, sleep. Game days were a bit different, cutting out the fucking and adding in a lot of extra “bro’s” into their everyday vocabulary, just so ‘nobody would suspect a thing’.

As well as this seemed to be working, Tyler was slipping, very quickly. As usual they were extremely physical and vocal during goal celebrations, but after a particularly pretty goal from Jamie, Tyler felt a sense of extreme pride in his Captain, line mate and most importantly, boyfriend.

Every Star on ice was coming towards Tyler as Jamie skated straight for him as soon as the puck hit the back of the net. Tyler let out a scream, followed by shouting “That’s my baby!” which wasn’t much, but it warmed Jamie’s heart, until he remembered where they were and who they were with.

He got to Tyler and his arms were around him immediately, soon they were enveloped by Pevs, Dills and Jordie.

Jamie was beaming, he was always happier than anything after a goal, but with Tyler’s praise he was absolutely flying.

Games came and went and then when Jamie was named to Team Canada, he felt like everything he could ever want was falling into his lap at the same time and he wasn’t sure why but he was too happy to care.

Tyler was by his side when he got the news. He'd never been so proud of Jamie, and so happy to see him smile.

"Told you we'd prove them wrong bug." Tyler grabbed Jamie's face and kissed him hard, eventually turning into another event of losing all their clothes.

Tyler was on top of Jamie trying to take his belt off and kissing his collar bone when Jordie walked in, followed by Brenden, Val, Antoine, and Cody. 

Jamie noticed them filing through the door and pushed Tyler back, keeping his shoulders in his hands so he wouldn't fall backwards.

"SHIT" Jamie tried to whisper, when it came out more of a strangled groan than anything else.

"What? Are you embarrassed or something?" Cody laughed, looking to Antoine. 

"Did you think we weren't aware you two were...you two?" He added.

Tyler and Jamie looked at each other, then to Jordie who's look of shock that they knew was barely convincing enough to earn him a high school drama role.

"You two aren't exactly subtle. If you're trying to keep it under wraps, try to nix the visible hickeys and..." Brenden added, shuddering. "scratches." he finished, fake dry heaving.

"How long have you guys..known?" Tyler asked.

"Longer than you two. The whole 'thats my baby' incident just kind of solidified our theories." 

Val was a little behind, as always.

"Wait..were about to..." his eyes went wide, realizing what they nearly stumbled in on.

"As long as I don't end up seeing you guys blowing each other, I think I'll survive." Cody laughed, as everyone agreed.

"You owe me 275 bucks, assholes." Brenden clapped, talking to the trio behind him. 

"What did you guys bet on?" Jamie questioned, Captain voice out in full force.

"They all thought you'd try to have some big speech about coming out way later. Me and Kari both said something like this would end up happening. 550 bucks later, now we're splitting it." Brenden grinned.

"I gotta call him." He added quickly. Jamie sat back against the couch and rubbed his eyes, and Tyler buried his face against Jamie's side.

"By the way we were all here to congratulate you, Mr. Olympian. Obviously, someone else had a different way of doing so."

They all grimaced and Jamie turned an unusually bright shade of red and covered his face with a pillow. 

Time flew between then and the Olympics. Tyler was so happy for Jamie that he couldn't even begin to fathom why people thought he was disappointed to not be on the roster.

Jordie brought Jamie to the airport, and Tyler would have tagged along but PDA still wasn't their thing and he wasn't sure he'd be able to not latch onto Jamie, kissing him like an idiot until he boarded. 

So he stayed behind, and texted him until he boarded, and then again when they landed, and then every waking moment possible that he could. 

Most of their conversations was Tyler sending Jamie memes, so it was like an insane flashback to the first few months of their friendship.

Jamie was laid out on his bed after his game winning goal against Team USA, face sore from smiling so much for so long.

His phone had been going off for as long as he'd had it turned on, but the only thing that mattered was the conversation with Tyler.

He'd been iMessaging him memes since the moment he saw the puck go in the net, and Jamie couldn't help but laugh until he was red faced and out of breath.

Rooming with Patrick Sharp wasn't nearly as weird as Jamie expected, it was actually pretty entertaining. Sharpy was very, VERY into making Toews mad, and Jamie wasn't one to pass up lame antics.

"You good over there greaseball? Don't need you having a coronary, superstar." Sharpy glared at him, smirking like he knew every secret in the world.

"I'm good, just memes dude.. they're a fucking riot!" Jamie responded, sounding like a 13 year old boy trapped in a grown man's body. 

"Who's sending them, Crosby?" He asked, seeming to be actually interested.

"Ty is. uh Tyler." he quickly corrected himself. Sharpy raised an eyebrow, knowing that something had been going on with the two, but not trying to force it out of Jamie for the sake of not being an asshole.

"Look, I don't know whats up with you two but if it's what I think it could be, don't be freaked out by it. It's totally cool. Nobody ACTUALLY cares. But, if you think you're going to out-gay Kane and Toews, you're sadly mistaken. Right now they're playing Romeo and Juliet thanks to you. And Pat, he's actively portraying Juliet. As far as I'm concerned, you're aggressively heterosexual."

Jamie felt both embarrassed and relieved, but mostly entertained by the idea of Canadian-American forbidden romance during the Olympics. 

He decided to call Tyler before falling asleep, feeling a little more comfortable with the idea of coming out to everyone, not just their friends.

The phone rang twice before Tyler answered.

"Jamie Benn you're my hero" he said in a nasaly voice, and Jamie could tell he was smiling on the other end.

"Yeah?" Jamie said confidently, which understandably threw Tyler off.

"Of course, Jam. How's my favorite guy feeling?" He asked, more serious now. 

"I'm good, happy. Tired. I feel a lot of things right now. Mostly missing you, but other than that I'm pretty good."

Tyler was silent for a moment.

"Are you alone?" he asked, thinking Jamie was still a little uneasy about people knowing.

"Nope, Sharpy's right here." Jamie stated, biting his lip.

"Tell him I say hi" Sharpy said excitedly. 

Jamie told him, and Tyler was still a bit more silent than before.

"Go, have fun in Mexico. I'll talk to you later, I'm gonna pass out." Jamie said, trying to calm Tyler down a bit.

"Okay, I'll text you when I'm going to bed. Talk to you soon." Tyler replied.

"Yeah, love you." Jamie said, not really realizing what he'd said until Tyler replied with "I love you too, Jam. Goodnight." and hanging up.

He kind of just stared at the ceiling until he passed out, mind racing. 

When Team Canada won Gold, it was no surprise to anyone around them. They were a wrecking ball and any opposing countries were just obstacles that would no longer stand in their way.

Jamie was elated, but he also couldn't wait to be back in Dallas. In his own bed, and more importantly with Tyler. 

The night he got back Tyler laid on his chest and let him talk about everything and nothing at all until they fell asleep on each other.

The next night Jamie decided that he was ready to come out. To really come out. He and Tyler had already talked about coming out, and Tyler was ready but was more than okay with waiting until Jamie was comfortable to do so.

Jamie picked up his phone and texted Tyler.

_dinner in 45. i'll be by to grab you. love you._

Tyler responded quickly.

_oooh spontaneous, i like it ;D_

Jamie didn't respond, just planned out exactly what he was going to do and told Jordie and Brenden to meet him at the restaurant. 

As far as everyone else knew, they were just going to dinner. Jamie had another idea.

Once they were sat down, Tyler and Jamie on one side with Brenden and Jordie parallel Jamie whipped out his phone.

Tyler was scanning his menu when Jamie casually draped his arm over his shoulder, to which Tyler instinctively leaned against Jamie's side.

He pulled up his camera and switched it to front facing before pressing record.

He smiled at the camera. "Just at dinner." he moved the phone a bit to show Tylers position against his side. "Same side of the table." he continued, Tyler then looked up to him and at his phone. "S'cute" he said, and kissed Tyler before looking back to his phone smiling. 

He ended the recording, and posted it on his instagram with the caption "#NoMoreSecrets #WeOutChea" with both the rainbow emoji, and the sunglasses emoji. 

Brenden and Jordie just looked at them, Tyler smiling stupidly at Jamie, looking adoringly back at the idiot plastered to his side. 

"You guys are sickening." Brenden said, looking back to his menu.

They had a big game against Carolina the next night, and Jamie wasn't sure it was the best timing to have posted what he did, but hell if that was going to stop him. 

Jamie knew the consequences. There would be a lot of hate, a lot of judgement. Who cares though? Who fucking cares. 

Jamie ignored his phone for the next 24 hours, focusing soley on Tyler, and their upcoming game.

Not even 6 minutes into the first period he was getting shit from the Carolina bench, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. 

He was pretty okay until Eric Staal laid Tyler out, especially when Tyler wasn't getting up. Jamie went at him, as he always would have. 

This time, it was different. It was personal and he knew it.

"Drop em." He said about 3 times before Staal actually gave in.

"Always knew Seguin was pretty fucking fruity, what a shame he got you down to that shit." Staal chirped, Jamie just let go.

Hit after hit, he was relentless. The linesmen wanted nothing to do with it, because they could tell that this wasn't just Jamie mad, this was Jamie absolutely raging. 

By the time Jamie was worn down enough for the linesmen to try and pull them apart, one last hit and Staal was down. Bloody and sure to be bruised, Jamie felt better.

Give him all the shit you want, he can take it. Do not, talk about his team like that. Especially not Tyler. 

Jamie was so rage driven he didn't even realize that Tyler was up, being held back by Skinner, who was more or less just saying shit to try and calm Tyler down. 

Staal was sent down the tunnel for repairs, and didn't make a return during the rest of the game. 

Jamie was extremely on edge, and anyone that even looked at Tyler wrong was subject to extreme danger. 

The Stars ended up winning 4-1, but that didn't help Jamie's anger. All he could think about was seeing Tyler down and hearing Staal's bullshit and he was furious all over again.

The two were back at Tyler's apartment and Jamie was making them food, and Tyler was sitting on the counter watching him, just like the day Jamie made breakfast. 

"Bug." Tyler said, Jamie didn't respond.

"Bug." he repeated, still nothing. Tyler sighed, and rubbed his eyes.

"I love you, you fucking barbarian." Tyler said, finally getting Jamie's attention.

He cracked a small smile, and the tension visibly drained from his shoulders.

Tyler knew better than to prod much more, so he stood behind Jamie, wrapping his arms around his waist just like he'd been afraid to do just a few months back.

Jamie said his first words since he left the ice all night when Tyler kissed his neck lightly.

"He was fucking awful, and not about me. I wasn't gonna stand for him trying to insult you." Tyler breathed out onto his neck and rubbed his nose into his shoulder.

"I love you, Tyler." 

It was the first time Jamie had said 'i love you' as opposed to 'love you'. It wasn't normally a big deal to people, but Tyler took it as though Jamie had finally chosen to be 100% into this.

Whether he had been the whole time or not, Tyler was now fully aware that he was.

"If you love me, and I love you, and there's only steers and queers in Texas, then who's driving the car?" Tyler whispered, knowing that it was the very thing that made Jamie's chest heavy the first time he'd said something along the lines of it.

"Hilarious, Ty." Jamie giggled, squeezing Tyler's wrist.

"I wonder if we're on knowyourmeme yet." Tyler joked, and Jamie turned in his arms.

"How about we uh, go take a look." Jamie grinned wildly.

"Oh _JAMES_ , you sure know the way to a boy's heart." Tyler fake swooned.

"Memes, it's  _always_  memes." 

The music was back, and Jamie began to think that it was a definite sign that things were exactly where they needed to be. 

_I'm glad I didn't die before I met you, but now I don't care I could go anywhere with you and I'd probably be happy. So if you want to be with me, with these things there's no telling. We just have to wait and see, but I'd rather be working for a paycheck, than waiting to win the lottery. Besides maybe this time is different, I mean I really think you like me._

 

**Author's Note:**

> this was kind of a mess of 16 different conversations over the past month about memelords of the nhl. i hope y'all enjoy it, and if you have any questions/suggestions or requests hit me up over at gentlebenn.tumblr.com B)  
> also the title is the lamest fucking thing i am so so sorry


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